BROWNSTOWN, Ind. (Sept. 21) — His father Don is a four-time Jackson 100 winner. And on Saturday night, 19-year-old Hudson O’Neal of Martinsville, Ind., etched his name in the Brownstown Speedway record books, scoring his first career Jackson 100 victory at his home racetrack.

After an early door-to-door battle with dad Don, the younger O’Neal overtook polesitter Devin Moran of Dresden, Ohio, on the 71st lap, leading the remaining distance to capture a $15,000 victory in his fourth Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series triumph of the season.

“I’m speechless,” an emotional Hudson O’Neal said after getting a hug from his dad in victory lane. “I held my breath. I counted down every lap for the last 10 laps. That’s amazing. There’s nothing like it. To be home … this is where I grew up racing. I love every time I can come back here and race.”

Gaining momentum from a lap-55 restart, O’Neal raced three-wide for second with his dad and Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., quickly closing in on Moran, who had regained the point from Mike Marlar of Winfield, Tenn., on the 48th circuit. O’Neal first attempted to slide ahead of Moran in turn two on the 69th lap, and then again on the following circuit, with the race leader maintaining the advantage at the line.

The third time would indeed prove to be the charm. O’Neal powered ahead of Moran out of turn two to lead lap 71, holding off the Dunn Benson Motorsports pilot in the final circuits to score his sixth career Lucas Oil Series victory in front of family, friends and a booming home-state crowd.

“At the beginning of that race, I was actually thinking under one of those cautions, ‘I hope they don’t think I’m saving, because I’m not very good,’” Hudson O’Neal said. “But as we raced there, I got a little better. The second-to-last restart, we stayed right there with them and I was able to take the lead there.

“All the cards have to play your way to win one of these. It definitely doesn’t come easy. But it’s so amazing to do it here. This is one of the biggest wins of my career and to do it here is that much more special. To finally have my name on that Jackson 100 check is amazing.”

O’Neal took the checkered flag by a 1.063-second margin over Moran, who settled for a runner-up finish after leading 37 laps of the distance. Don O’Neal, also of Martinsville, finished third, with seventh-starting Tim McCreadie of Watertown, N.Y., running fourth. After racing as high as third, ninth-starting Nick Hoffman of Mooresville, N.C., fell back to round out the top five.

It was Moran charging to the front of the field at the drop of the green flag, leading the first circuit before falling to Marlar on the following lap. The pair battled side-by-side through the early running, with Moran retaking the lead on lap 11, falling to Marlar on lap 24, and then regaining again on lap 48.

Losing the lead to O’Neal late-race, Moran, whose previous best Jackson 100 finish was a third-place run in the 2015 edition of the event, had trouble hiding his disappointment. He had come so close to his first Lucas Oil Series victory of the season only to fall one spot short.

“That was tough,” Moran said. “Congrats to Hud. That was a heck of a race. Me and Mikey (Marlar) raced for the first 30-40. Don (O’Neal) was there. Hud could just steer so much better than we could. We just couldn’t steer. We haven’t been able to steer all year. That’s been half of our problem. Just so frustrating. I thought we had one.”

The elder O’Neal, who has piled up victories and championships at Brownstown throughout his career, was one of the first to congratulate Hudson in victory lane. His third-place finish gave him a front-row seat to seeing his son taking the checkered flag.

“To get to watch every lap of it … we raced together a lot that race,” Don O’Neal said. “And then to see him take the lead and watch him hold Devin off there and stuff was awesome. I’m a pretty proud dad.”

Notes: O’Neal captured his fourth Lucas Oil Series victory of the season, his fifth overall. … Outside polesitter Mike Marlar led laps 2-10 and 24-47 before falling to Devin Moran and slipping to 10th. … The race was slowed by four cautions. … The first yellow flag waved on lap 22 when Scott James slowed with a flat tire. … Steve Godsey slowed to draw a caution on lap 39. … A yellow flag flew on lap 55 for debris on the racing surface. … Jonathan Davenport spun in turn one to draw the final caution on lap 75. … Sixth-place finisher Tyler Erb was the winner of Friday’s inaugural Lucas Oil Series event at Kokomo Speedway.

Preliminary reports:

Feature lineup

Row 1: Devin Moran, Mike Marlar
Row 2: Johnny Scott, Hudson O’Neal
Row 3: Bobby Pierce, Don O’Neal
Row 4: Tim McCreadie, Chris Madden
Row 5: Nick Hoffman, Tyler Erb
Row 6: Dustin Linville, Stormy Scott
Row 7: Scott James, Jonathan Davenport
Row 8: Kyle Bronson, Scott Bloomquist
Row 9: Shanon Buckingham, Jimmy Owens
Row 10: Steve Godsey, Josh Richards
Row 11: Jared Bailey, Tanner English
Row 12: Earl Pearson Jr., Billy Moyer Jr.
Row 13: Devin Gilpin

Consolation results

First consolation finish (top three transfer): Shanon Buckingham, Steve Godsey, Jared Bailey, Jason Jameson, Michael Chilton, Kent Robinson, Austin Burns, Earl Pearson Jr. Scratched: Zak Blackwood.

Second consolation finish (top three transfer): Jimmy Owens, Josh Richards, Tanner English, Shelby Miles, Chad Stapleton, Billy Moyer Jr., Skyller Lewis, Greg Johnson.

Consolation lineups

(12 laps; top three transfer)
First consolation
Row 1: Shanon Buckingham, Steve Godsey
Row 2: Jared Bailey, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 3: Jason Jameson, Michael Chilton
Row 4: Austin Burns, Kent Robinson
Row 5: Zak Blackwood
Second consolation
Row 1: Josh Richards, Jimmy Owens
Row 2: Shelby Miles, Tanner English
Row 3: Chad Stapleton, Billy Moyer Jr.
Row 4: Skyller Lewis, Greg Johnson
Row 5: Devin Gilpin

Heat race results

First heat finish (top four transfer): Devin Moran, Bobby Pierce, Nick Hoffman, Scott James, Shanon Buckingham, Jared Bailey, Jason Jameson, Austin Burns. Scratched: Zak Blackwood.

Second heat finish (top four transfer): Johnny Scott, Tim McCreadie, Dustin Linville, Kyle Bronson, Steve Godsey, Earl Pearson Jr., Michael Chilton, Kent Robinson.

Third heat finish (top four transfer): Mike Marlar, Don O’Neal, Tyler Erb, Jonathan Davenport, Josh Richards, Shelby Miles, Chad Stapleton, Skyller Lewis, Devin Gilpin.

Fourth heat finish (top four transfer): Hudson O’Neal, Chris Madden, Stormy Scott, Scott Bloomquist, Jimmy Owens, Tanner English, Billy Moyer Jr., Greg Johnson.

Heat race lineups

(10 laps; top four transfer)
First heat
Row 1: Bobby Pierce, Devin Moran
Row 2: Jason Jameson, Jared Bailey
Row 3: Nick Hoffman, Shanon Buckingham
Row 4: Scott James, Austin Burns
Row 5: Zak Blackwood
Second heat
Row 1: Johnny Scott, Tim McCreadie
Row 2: Kyle Bronson, Michael Chilton
Row 3: Dustin Linville, Earl Pearson Jr.
Row 4: Steve Godsey, Kent Robinson
Third heat
Row 1: Mike Marlar, Tyler Erb
Row 2: Don O’Neal, Josh Richards
Row 3: Shelby Miles, Jonathan Davenport
Row 4: Chad Stapleton, Skyller Lewis
Row 5: Devin Gilpin
Fourth heat
Row 1: Chris Madden, Jimmy Owens
Row 2: Hudson O’Neal, Tanner English
Row 3: Stormy Scott, Greg Johnson
Row 4: Scott Bloomquist, Billy Moyer Jr.

Time trial results

Driver (car no.), hometown, time
Group A
Bobby Pierce (32), Oakwood, Ill., 14.794
Johnny Scott (1st), Las Cruces, N.M., 14.804
Devin Moran (1), Dresden, Ohio, 14.896
Tim McCreadie (39), Watertown, N.Y., 14.910
Jason Jameson (12), Lawrenceburg, Ind., 14.935
Kyle Bronson (40B), Brandon, Fla., 14.958
Jared Bailey (24), Bedford, Ind., 14.962
Michael Chilton (97), Salvisa, Ky., 15.038
Nick Hoffman (2), Mooresville, N.C., 15.078
Dustin Linville (D8), Bryantsville, Ky., 15.080
Shanon Buckingham (50), Morristown, Tenn., 15.148
Kent Robinson (14K), Bloomington, Ind., 15.199
Earl Pearson Jr. (1), Jacksonville, Fla., 15.218
Scott James (83), Bright, Ind., 15.356
Steve Godsey (14S), Bedford, Ind., 15.460
Austin Burns (22B), Morgantown, Ind., 15.725
Zak Blackwood (93), Columbus, Ind., no time
Group B
Mike Marlar (157), Winfield, Tenn., 14.723
Chris Madden (0M), Gray Court, S.C., 15.064
Tyler Erb (1), New Waverly, Texas, 15.067
Jimmy Owens (20), Newport, Tenn., 15.106
Don O’Neal (5), Martinsville, Ind., 15.113
Hudson O’Neal (71), Martinsville, Ind., 15.210
Josh Richards (14), Shinnston, W.Va., 15.252
Tanner English (96), Benton, Ky., 15.276
Shelby Miles (76), Bloomington, Ind., 15.367
Stormy Scott (2), Las Cruces, N.M., 15.420
Jonathan Davenport (49), Blairsville, Ga., 15.438
Greg Johnson (17J), Bedford, Ind., 15.448
Chad Stapleton (32), Edinburgh, Ind., 15.489
Scott Bloomquist (0), Mooresburg, Tenn., 15.515
Skyller Lewis (22L), Brownstown, Ind., 15.647
Billy Moyer Jr. (21jr), Batesville, Ark., 15.718
Devin Gilpin (1G), Columbus, Ind., 15.769

Saturday’s schedule

5:30 p.m.: Drivers meeting
6 p.m.: Hot laps/qualifying
- Late Model hot laps
- Modified hot laps
- Super stock hot laps
- Late Model qualifying (2 laps)
Opening ceremonies
- Modified heat races ( 10 laps)
- Late Model heat races (10 laps)
- Super stock heat races (10 laps)
- Late Model consolations (12 laps)
- Modified consolations (12 laps)
Track prep
- Late Model feature (100 laps)
- Super stock consolations (12 laps)
- Modified feature (20 laps)
- Super stock feature (20 laps)